Bangladesh will charge at least Tk 589 for the transportation of a tonne of Indian goods to the north-eastern states from the mainland of India through Mongla and Chattogram ports as Dhaka offers regular transit facility to the neighbouring country. Apart from the transit fee, there would be a charge for using the roads of each kilometre and it would be Tk 1.85 per tonne, according to a gazette of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued on Monday (Apr. 24).

The document processing fee would be Tk 30, the security charge has been fixed at Tk 100, the administrative fee would be Tk 100, and the transshipment fee has been set at Tk 20 for each tonne in each shipment. The escort charge for each container, truck, trailer, or covered van would be Tk 85 per kilometre. A certain amount of fees for the electric lock and seal will also be paid, it said.

Even after offering a one-day "special opportunity" for hajj registration on Tuesday, this year's hajj quota of 1.27 lakh people is yet to be fulfilled. The total number of people who have completed hajj registration stood at 1,20,491 meaning that around 6,500 of the hajj quota is still unfulfilled. Due to poor response from the intended hajis, the government earlier extended the deadline for hajj registration eight times since it started on February 8.

Following a request from Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), the Ministry of Religious Affairs gave the special offer to complete hajj registration under government and private management on Tuesday (Apr. 25). However only 39 intended hajis completed registration under the government management, while 757 completed registrations under the private hajj management. This was the last chance for hajj registration this year, a press release of the ministry said.

Bangladesh's ranking in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2023 has gone up by 12 places, a development that has given an indication that the country's skills in trade and business have improved. According to the report, Bangladesh's rank in the index of 139 countries has risen to 88 from 100 in 2018. Bangladesh managed a score of 2.6 on a 5-point scale, helping the country secure third place among five South Asian nations assessed by the World Bank.

India secured the 38th position on the index while Sri Lanka was 72nd and Bhutan 100th. Afghanistan's stood 139th, the last to come after all countries. Singapore, Finland and Denmark secured the top three positions in the index. The World Bank's Global Trade and Regional Integration Team in the Trade, Investment, and Competition Group prepared the report, titled "Connecting to Compete 2023: Trade Logistics in an Uncertain Global Economy".

The Border Guard Bangladesh seized 21.90 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth or ice, from Balukhali near Bangladesh-Myanmar border at Ukhia in Cox's Bazar early Wednesday. This is the biggest-ever consignment of crystal meth seized in the country, said border guard officials. A team of the BGB 34 Battalion also arrested three people on charge of trying to smuggle the drugs into Bangladesh, said border guard battalion commander in Cox's Bazar Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam Chowdhury. They were arrested with the drugs near Balukhali Cyclone Shelter, said the officer.

The arrested are Bujuche Mia, 51, Md Ismail, 23, and Syedul Bashar, 40. Briefing the media at 34 BGB Battalion headquarters, Colonel Mehedi Hossain Kabir, commander of BGB Ramu Sector in Cox's Bazar, said that they had a tip-off about drug smuggling into Bangladesh from Myanmar. BGB personnel managed to arrest three smugglers, seized the sacks while other smugglers escaped, said BGB officials.